Black cop killer linked to rape

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Forensic evidence has linked convicted cop killer Kevin Randleman to a 2005 rape case in Illinois.

 

On May 31, 2005, a 21-year-old woman reported a sexual assault to the Springfield, Ill. police department. She told officers it occurred after a night of drinking with Randleman.

“They knew each other to some degree,” Springfield police Lt. Daniel Mounce told the Register Thursday.

The woman eventually fell asleep, but awoke as Randleman was raping her. Officials opened an investigation and collected a DNA sample from the woman that day. 

Springfield police detectives later interviewed Randleman, who denied having sexual contact with the woman altogether. The victim never followed up on the investigation, and she failed to appear at a scheduled police interview and did not return phone calls. “That’s why the case was ultimately closed” Mounce said. Fast-forward to 3 a.m. March 19, 2011.

Randleman gunned down Sandusky police Officer Andy Dunn at Hayes Avenue and Tyler Street.

Dunn was making a routine stop when Randleman unleashed multiple rounds from his weapon, which pierced Dunn’s bullet-proof vest and killed him.

Randleman was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to Dunn’s murder in August 2012.

When they were first investigating the crime scene in 2011, Erie County deputies recovered a sample of Randleman’s blood off the sidewalk outside Firelands Regional Medical Center.

Adhering to standard protocol, deputies submitted Randleman’s sample to CODIS, a national crime database.

Just last week, Springfield police reached out to Erie County deputies after CODIS found a match between the the DNA sample collected in the rape case and Randleman’s blood sample, Erie County Chief Deputy Jared Oliver said.

Even though the woman had named Randleman as her attacker in 2005, whenever a new sample is entered into the database it automatically runs the DNA against all other submitted samples. It has apparently taken almost three years for CODIS to link up Randleman’s blood to the rape case.

Mounce said his department will try to make contact with the rape victim.

“In light of what we have with Randleman, we’ll try and contact her one more time to see if she’s interested in pursuing it” Mounce said.

Mounce told Erie County deputies he doubts the woman would want to pursue charges.

When first confronted with the forensic match, Springfield police wanted to check Randleman’s legal circumstances before reaching out to the rape victim, Mounce said.

Now that they’ve learned Randleman is already serving a life sentence, they aren’t too concerned about reopening the case.

“He’s in prison for life. It really isn’t going to impact anything, other than the victim receiving some satisfaction” Mounce said.

While Erie County deputies have no authority on how the case will proceed in Illinois, they’ve offered to help Springfield police in their investigation however they can, Oliver said.